Parliament handily rejects proposal to allow assisted suicide

Britain’s House of Commons has defeated a bill to allow assisted suicide, by an overwhelming 212 to 118 vote.
The proposed legislation would have allowed doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs, which their patients could then use to commit suicide. The bill was energetically opposed by the Catholic hierarchy.
The lopsided vote against the bill, coming after five hours of heated debate, represented only a slight movement toward acceptance of euthanasia. A similar measure, brought before Parliament in 1997, was rejected by an even more resounding vote of 234 to 89.